GPTC BULLETIN
~ January/February 2002 ~


Contents:

1. Welcome to new GPTC participants
2. Congratulations to new global partnerships
3. Global partners take ACTION!
4. Regional GPTC Activities/Collaboration
    a) West Africa
    b) Uganda
    c) Oregon, USA
5. Miscellaneous odds & ends
    a) Schedule a conference call!
    b) Traveling abroad?
    c) Three GPTC participants nominated for Jonathan Mann Award
6. In Memorium
    - Jiri Kozak
    - John Slade

For previous bulletins see:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/update/


1) WELCOME NEW GPTC PARTICIPANTS!

Groups that signed up since December 2001:

  • ViSa (Mauritius)
  • Substance Control Campaign (Uganda)
  • The Gorlovka Youth Environmental League (Ukraine)
  • Denver Public Health - Jennifer Wieczorek (USA - CO)
  • Denver Public Health - Felicia Aniniba (USA - CO)
  • Pilot City Health Center (USA - MN)
  • Tobacco Prevention & Control Program, New Hampshire Dept. of Health & Human Services (USA - NH)


2) CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS!

  • Shanghai Association on Smoking and Health (China)
    Tobacco Free Norman (USA - OK)
  • Aga Khan University, Department of Medicine (Pakistan)
    Nina Jones (USA - AZ)
  • Russian Cancer Research Centre (Russia)
    Alameda Co. Public Health Dept (USA - CA)


3) GLOBAL PARTNERS TAKE ACTION!

Here is a sampling of the projects that various global partners are working on together:

PAKISTAN - ARIZONA (USA): POLICIES AGAINST ACCEPTING TOBACCO INDUSTRY FUNDS
Javaid Khan of Aga Khan University, Department of Medicine (Pakistan) wants his university to establish a policy against accepting tobacco industry money, money he believes is "stained with the blood of patients who have died from tobacco-related diseases." Nina Jones (USA) did a websearch and emailed Javaid links to helpful documents, e.g. the new University of Arizona policy on accepting funding for research projects, relevant policies from several Australian Universities, and a miscellaneous assortment of studies and articles on the topic. For more info email: <Nina.Jones@nau.edu>, <javaid.khan@aku.edu>

UKRAINE - CALIFORNIA (USA): TOBACCO'S GLOBAL TOLL
Sang Trieu of Alameda County Tobacco Control Program's STARRS program (USA)and Lisa Houston, a Peace Corps Volunteer working with students at the Ukrainian State Maritime Technical University (Ukraine) recently participated in a conference call. They each plan to collect examples of tobacco advertising and to interview and photograph a variety of people who have been personally affected by tobacco-use. The advertisements, testimonies, and photos from each community will be combined and turned into a series of exhibits at their respective colleges. Sang and Lisa will write a press release about their joint project. For more info: <sangleng@yahoo.com>, <lhouston@farlep.mk.ua>

URUGUAY - MASSACHUSETTS (USA): MATERIAL TRANSLATION & EXCHANGE
The Cancer Prevention Education at Boston University School of Medicine (USA) plans to translate some of their curriculum, e.g. case studies of patients who smoke and how physicians might talk to them, for Sindicato Medico del Uruguay to modify and use in Uruguay. They will also send some Spanish versions of National Cancer Institute materials. The Cancer Prevention Education program believes that it would benefit, likewise, from Uruguayan case studies that are "culturally appropriate" for certain populations in Boston. For more info email: <mnprout@bu.edu>, <biamau@adinet.com.uy>

UGANDA - ARIZONA (USA): TALK SHOW RADIO
In January, Barbara Bruce of The Navajo County Tobacco Control Education and Prevention Program (USA) was a guest on the live morning talk show, "The Eye Opener," that her partner, Angelo Izama, of Monitor FM (Uganda) produces. The show's hosts and Angelo chatted with Barbara about her smoking cessation work, improving tobacco warning labels, and the differences and similarities between tobacco control in the U.S. and Uganda. Barbara also answered questions from callers. Barbara taped the show to air in Arizona. For more info email: <quitlady@juno.com>, <izama@another.com>

SENEGAL - FLORIDA (USA): YOUTH-TO-YOUTH WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY ACTIVITY
Gloria Luther of Volusia County Health Dept (USA) and a member of FADDES (Senegal) recently held a telephone conference call to discuss a joint youth-to-youth WNTD activity. Students in Florida and Senegal will conduct interviews with people in their respective countries re: how they, their families, and/or their communities have been affected by secondhand smoke. Each group will make a scrapbook of photographs, tobacco advertisements and the personal testimonies that they collect. They will then exchange the scrapbooks and use them to garner media coverage leading up to World No Tobacco Day. To start the project, Volusia County sent its partner a package with disposable cameras and scrapbook supplies. For more info email: <gloria_luther@doh.state.fl.us>

MOLDOVA - IDAHO (USA): WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
The NGO "Tineri pentru Tineri" (Moldova) recently created a website where they put up information about their partnership with Taking ACTION (USA). They plan to include tobacco control information from Idaho and GPTC in their on-line newspaper "Glasul Copilului" (Children's Voice).
See http://www.geocities.com/ongtpt For more info email: <ong_tpt@yahoo.com>


ARE YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WORKING ON A JOINT PROJECT OR CAMPAIGN? Let us know, so that your activity can be included in the next bulletin!

NEED IDEAS FOR A JOINT PROJECT? Contact Essential Action <tobacco@essential.org>


4) REGIONAL GPTC ACTIVITIES/COLLABORATION

a) West Africa

A number of francophone groups involved in GPTC participated in an NGO workshop in Bamako, Mali in December. GPTC participants Mahamane Cisse (Mali), Inoussa Saouna (Niger), and Daouda El Hadj Adam (Chad) were elected to the transitory executive committee of the newly created "Observatoire francophone du tabac en Afrique Francophone” (OTAF). The committee plans to collect data on tobacco control and tobacco industry activities throughout West Africa. The data will be presented at the “Première Conférence Internationale Francophone sur le contrôle du Tabac” (CIFCOT) which will be held in Montreal, Canada, September 15-18, 2002. For more info email: <mahacisse@yahoo.fr>, <inoussa_saouna@yahoo.fr>, <daoudaadam@yahoo.com>

b) Uganda

GPTC participants Angelo Izama (Monitor FM) and Phillip Karugaba (TEAN) have joined forces in Uganda! Phillip recently did a radio interview on Angelo's "smoke-free" radio show on the FCTC and tobacco labelling/packing. He cited a relevant internal BAT document that his U.S. partner had sent him. The radio show has been running a month long promotion calling for tough Canadian-style warning labels. TEAN is supporting the effort with materials and a $30 cash prize to the caller who makes the best suggestion. For more info email: <karugaba@globalink.org>, <angelo@monitor.co.ug>

c) Oregon

Pat Hale will hold a 90-minute workshop on "Understanding Global Tobacco Control" at the Oregon Tobacco Prevention conference in March. She will use the workshop to give conference attendees an international perspective on tobacco control and to inform them about opportunities for partnering with groups in other countries. For more info email: <hale@europa.com>


5) MISCELLANEOUS ODDS & ENDS

a) Schedule a conference call!

Many global partners have found that participating in a telephone conference call is the best way to jumpstart a joint activity. If interested, Essential Action can facilitate one for you. Procedure:
1. Check with Essential Action to confirm available days.
2. Communicate with your partner and decide upon a day/time that is convenient for both of you.
3. Confirm the time difference. For assistance see:
     http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html
     http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi%2Dbin/tzc.tzc
4. Schedule call with Essential Action!


b) Traveling abroad?

Tell Essential Action ahead of time and we can put you in touch with GPTC participants in that country. You may want to meet or organize an event together. And don't forget to bring your camera to collect photos of tobacco advertising.


c) Three GPTC participants have been nominated for Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights (established by the Association François-Xavier Bagnoud, Doctors of the World and the Global Health Council).

They are:

  • Juan Almendares Bonilla (Honduras)
  • Inoussa Saouna (Niger)
  • Togolese Youth Association for Development (Togo)

To read more about each person/group go to:
http://www.globalhealth.org/awards/mann_nominees.php3

6) IN MEMORIUM

We are saddened to report that two exceptional individuals involved with GPTC passed away at the end of January.

  • Jiri Kozak (Czech Republic), a chest physician and a former smoker who watched many family members and friends die from tobacco, championed tobacco control at the national, regional, and international levels. He was instrumental in gaining international exposure of Philip Morris activities in his country. In Infact's documentary "Making a Killing," Dr. Kozak recounts how Philip Morris paid for a trip to Switzerland for 20 of his country’s legislators just as a law that would affect tobacco advertising was to be debated in parliament. “When they returned," Jiri noted, "the law passed, and the entire section on tobacco control was written by advertising agencies working for Philip Morris." For an obituary written and information on where to send letters of condolence see: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/update/kozak.html
    To read more about Jiri, in his own words, see:
    http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0103/czech.html
    http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0109/cz/kozak.html
  • John Slade (NJ - USA), an expert on the treatment of alcohol, tobacco and drug addiction, and one of America’s pioneer advocates for tobacco control, skillfully combined science and advocacy. His groundbreaking research to prove that cigarettes are nicotine delivery devices helped make it possible for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to claim regulatory authority over tobacco products under then-FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler. He spoke out vigorously about the advertising and promotion of tobacco products, and his knack for collecting tobacco promotional items — from T-shirts to model cars — led to the creation of one of the largest repositories of its kind, which he dubbed, “Trinkets & Trash.” To read his full obituary, post thoughts and memories, and obtain information on where to send letters of condolence go to: http://www.tobaccoprogram.org

May we honor Jiri and John, by continuing their good work.

Essential Action
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
P.O. Box 19405 ~ Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030 ~ Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: tobacco@essential.org
www.essentialaction.org/tobacco